Neuroanatomical considerations of isolated hearing loss in thalamic hemorrhage

Abstract

AbstractBackground and importanceThalamic lesions are associated with a wide variety of clinical syndromes. Due to the close anatomic proximity of the nuclei, many of these syndromes have considerable overlap in clinical sequelae and, as such, a lesion affecting only one modality is exceedingly rare.Clinical presentationIn this case, a 55year-old right handed man with a past medical history significant for hypertension, polysubstance abuse, and a 25year history of seizure disorder following clipping of a middle cerebral artery aneurysm presented with isolated bilateral hearing loss.ConclusionPresumably, this neurological deficit was caused by a hypertensive hemorrhage in the posterior right thalamus. The following case and discussion will review the potential neuroanatomical pathways that we suggest could make isolated hearing loss be part of a “thalamic syndrome.